ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Increased zinc finger protein zFOC1 transcripts in gastric cancer compared with normal gastric tissue

R L Stephen¹, J E Crabtree¹, T Yoshimura¹, C L Clayton², M F Dixon¹, P A Robinson¹

¹ Molecular Medicine Unit, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds LS9 7TF, West Yorkshire, UK
² Genomics Unit, Glaxo Smith Kline Research and Development, Stevenage SG1 2NY, Hertfordshire, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr J E Crabtree, Level 7, Clinical Sciences Building, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds LS9 7TF, UK;
msjjc{at}stjames.leeds.ac.uk

Background: Screening of cDNA arrays of the IMAGE library identified human zFOC1 as a differentially expressed cDNA that was upregulated in KATO III gastric cancer cells following stimulation with the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori.

Aims: To determine the expression of zFOC1 in gastric mucosa with and without H pylori infection and in patients with gastric cancer.

Results: zFOC1 is localised on chromosome 12q24.3 and encodes a zinc finger protein. Expression studies in human H pylori infected and uninfected gastric biopsies, gastric tumours, and gastric cancer cell lines revealed that zFOCI gene transcripts are significantly higher in gastric cancer than in non-cancerous gastric tissues.

Conclusions: The zFOC1 gene appears to be a tumour marker associated with gastric cancer.

Keywords: gastric cancer; zFOC1; zinc finger protein; cDNA array; Helicobacter pylori

Abbreviations: EST, expressed sequence tag; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase; PAI, pathogenicity island; RT-PCR, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; SDS, sodium dodecyl sulfate; SCC, saline sodium citrate; UTR, untranslated region

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